Thera 12.1: Silavat
Tipitaka >> Sutta Pitaka >> Khuddaka Nikaya >> Theragatha >> Thera(241):Silavat Adapted from the Archaic Translation by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids. Note: 'C' in Pali text is pronounced as 'ch' as in 'China'. ---- Chapter XII. Poems of Twelve Verses =241. Sīlavat= Reborn in this Buddha-age at Rājagaha, as a son of King Bimbisāra, he was named Sīlavat. When he was come of age, his brother Ajātasattu was king, and wished to put him to death, but was unable, because Sīlavat was in his last span of life, and had not won arahantship(enlightenment).1 Then the Exalted One(Buddha), discerning what was going on, sent Moggallāna the Great to fetch him. And Prince Sīlavat alighted from his elephant, and did obeisance to the Exalted One. Then the latter taught him, adapting the doctrine to his temperament, so that the youth won faith, entered the Monk’s order, and in due time became an arahant(enlightened). He lived in Kosala, and when Ajātasattu sent men to murder him, he taught them the path and they achieved Sotapana(first samadhi of Nirvana), so that they, too, joined the Monk’s order. And he preached to them thus: ---- 608 Sīlamevidha sikkhetha asmiɱ loke susikkhitaɱ,|| Sīlaɱ hi sabbasampattiɱ upanāmeti sevitaɱ.|| || 609 Sīlaɱ rakkheyya medhāvī patthayāno tayo sukhe,|| Pasaɱsaɱ vittilābhaɱ ca pecca sagge ca modanaɱ.|| || 610 Sīlavā hi bahū mitte saññamenādhigacchati,|| Dussīlo pana mittehi dhaɱ sate pāpamācaraɱ.|| || 611 Avaṇṇaɱ ca akittiɱ ca dusīlo labhate naro,|| Vaṇṇaɱ kittiɱ pasaɱsaɱ ca sadā labhati sīlavā.|| || 612 Ādi sīlaɱ patiṭṭhā ca kalyāṇā naɱ ca mātukaɱ,|| Pamukhaɱ sabbadhammānaɱ tasmā sīlaɱ visodhaye.|| || 613 Velā ca saɱvaro sīlaɱ cittassa abhihāsanaɱ,|| Titthaɱ ca sabbabuddhānaɱ tasmā sīlaɱ visodhaye.|| || 614 Sīlaɱ balaɱ appaṭimaɱ sīlaɱ āvudhamuttamaɱ,|| Sīlamābharaṇaɱ seṭṭhaɱ sīlaɱ kavacamabbhutaɱ.|| || 615 Sīlaɱ setu mahesakkho sīlaɱ gandho2 anuttaro,|| Sīlaɱ vilepanaɱ seṭṭhaɱ yena vāti disodisaɱ.|| || 616 Sīlaɱ sambalamenaggaɱ sīlaɱ pātheyyamuttamaɱ,|| Sīlaɱ seṭṭho ativāho yena yāti disodisaɱ.|| || 617 Idheva nindaɱ labhati peccāpāye ca dummano,|| Sabbattha dummano bālo sīlesu asamāhito.|| || 618 Idheva kittiɱ labhati pecca sagge ca summano,|| Sabbattha sumano dhīro sīlesu susamāhito.|| || 619 Sīlameva idha aggaɱ paññavā pana uttamo,|| Manussesu ca devesu sīlapaññāṇato jayan' ti.|| || ---- 608 In morals2 it is that you should train yourselves Here on this earth, in morals practised well. For moral culture well applied did bring Near to our reach success of every kind.3 609 Let the wise man protect his morals well, Who did to threefold happiness aspire: A good name and the gain of this world's goods And, when this life is over, the joys of heaven. 610 The moral man, restrained, wins many friends; The immoral, working mischief, loss friends. 611 Dispraise and ill-fame wins the immoral man; Sure wins the good man fame, approval, praise. 612 Nothing there is of spiritual worth But has the moral habit as its base, Its matrix and its vanguard and its source; Make you therefore your morals wholly pure. 613 Morals do give the tether and the term, Light and delight affording to the heart;4 The strand where all un- enlightened put to sea;5 Make you therefore your morals wholly pure. 614 No force is thare like unto moral force; Weapon supreme the moral habit is; Chief decoration is the moral life; Wondrous invulnerable coat of mail.6 615 A mighty causeway is morality; A unmatched fragrance, sovereign frankincense, By which we safely travel far and wide.7 616 Good morals are the best viaticum,8 Sovereign munitions life's pilgrimage, Good morals are a unmatched lucky charm, By which we safely travel far and wide.9 617 The evil-minded man10 wins blame on earth, And in the after-life a woeful doom; A fool no matter where has sorry cheer, Not firmly planted on morality. 618 The man of virtuous mind wins fame on earth, And in the after-life the radiant realms. No matter where, the brave are of good cheer, Their hearts well stablished in morality. 619 Chief here below is morals, but the man Of wisdom is supreme; among gods and men He did prevail who is both good and wise.11 ---- 1 Cf. CCXXVII., CCXL.; also Vinnya Texts, iii. 241 f. 2 I was tempted to retain the pretty word sīla for our more cumbrous 'morality,' etc. 'Virtue' is more elegant, but a little vague. Sīla is moral habit, habitual good, or moral conduct - the conduct of one who does not hurt or rob living things, is sexually straight, truthful, and gentle of speech, and sober as to drink. That is all. Such conduct is only the essential basis of the higher life. The sermon is addressed to hired assassins, not to bhikkhus(monks). 3 Success as man, as god, or in Nibbāna (Commentary). 4 Abhibhāsanaɱ means either; the Commentary reads the latter meaning. 5 'In fording the great river (or sea) of Nibbāna' (Commentary). 6 The Commentary maintains that abbhutay, wondrous, means abhejjaɱ, unbreakable. 7 Lit., from one quarter (of the compass) to another, so acceptable to all men are virtuous qualities. 8 Sambalaɱ is illustrated by the puṭabhattaɱ, or leaf-wrapped pudding taken by a traveller. 9 See note 5. 10 Dummano and its opposite are usually rendered 'gloomy' and 'cheerful,' but the context demands an ethical rendering. The Commentary paraphrases by pāpadhammo, etc., and kalyānadhammo. 11 = verse 70. ----